Friday, September 11, 2009

These instructions describe the steps required to get wake-on-lan (WOL) working with an Asus P6T Deluxe v2 motherboard and Windows 7 RTM. Even if you don't have this specific motherboard, the instructions should be sufficient for learning how to enable WOL on most Windows systems. Also, I'll assume that if you found these instructions you already know what WOL is so I'll skip the explanation.

NOTE: For Linux users, WOL isn't currently working with the NICs on this motherboard. These NICs use the 'sky2' network driver which has apparently had a history of problems. I've tested on Ubuntu 9.04 and 9.10 with both standard Ubuntu kernels and vanilla 2.6.31 kernels from kernel.org and WOL just doesn't work. I've also found other issues with these 'sky2' driver on Linux and will make another blog post on that subject soon.

To get WOL working on the Asus P6T Deluxe v2 motherboard, you will need to perform the following steps:

Enable wake-on-lan in the systems BIOS setup utility

Install the most recent network driver available through Windows Update

Make sure the network driver in Windows 7 is configured properly for wake-on-lan

Each of these steps is shown in greater detail below. Also, in case it isn't clear, since WOL needs to be enabled through the operating system as well as through the BIOS it will only work after you power down from the OS that you enabled the settings in. For example, if you have a dual boot system with both Linux and Windows (and have only enabled WOL settings through Windows), WOL will only work after the computer has been shut down from Windows.

BIOS Setup

Enter the BIOS setup before the system boots and go to the Power tab --> APM Configuration screen and make sure that Power On By PCIE Devices is enabled.

The NICs in this motherboard are connected through the PCI-Express bus so Power on by PCIE Devices is the only option you need to enable (i.e. Power On by PCI Devices is not needed). For other systems, you may need to consult your computer or motherboard documentation for information on what settings you need to enable for wake-on-lan support.

Install Most Recent Network Drivers from Asus

Update (3/3/2010) - It is no longer necessary to download the network driver from the Asus website. The Marvell driver that is available through Windows Update provides the desired functionality, so just make sure Windows is up-to-date.

On Windows 7 RTM (i.e. the final retail version), the network drivers that are automatically added by the OS during installation do not work with wake-on-lan. I had to install the latest drivers from the Asus download site (http://support.asus.com/download) before WOL started working. In the future, Microsoft may provide a more up-to-date driver for these network cards but as of right now (9/11/2009) it is necessary to download the more recent driver from Asus.

Enable Wake-On-LAN in the Network Driver Settings

Open the driver configuration window for the NIC by opening the system Control Panel --> opening the Device Manager --> expanding Network adapters, then right-clicking on the Marvell Yukon Gigabit Ethernet Controller and selecting properties. This will bring up the driver configuration window seen below. Go to the Advanced tab and make sure that Wake From Shutdown is set to On.

Also, make sure that Wake-Up Capabilities is set to Magic Packet (you don't need Magic Packet and Pattern Match unless you know what it is).

Next, go to the Power Management tab and make sure your settings match the following (they should all be enabled by default):

That is it. You should now be able to power off your machine and wake it with your preferred WOL utility/software.

The OS actually is involved. Even though wake-on-lan is a feature that needs to be enabled in the BIOS, the network driver in the OS is still responsible during shutdown/standby for making sure the NIC is put in the proper mode so that the system can be woken up via 'magic packets'. There needs to be coordination between the OS and hardware to make it happen properly.

Case in point...if you are using Linux and WOL isn't properly supported (or support is broken/missing) with your NIC, your system will not wake up or respond to magic packets. However, if you run Windows on the same system and the network driver does support WOL, the system will wake up properly after shutdown/standby. Same hardware, same BIOS settings, but depending on which OS you just shutdown from WOL may or may not work.

Thanks for this post! It really helped me a lot but WOL still doesn't work as it should be on my system. For example: when I turn off my pc and wait like 20 minutes it won't boot using WOL. When I boot it with WOL directly after the pc is turned off (1 - 15 minutes after that) it works fine.Does anyone have any suggestions to fix this?

I am having this issue also. Some say it is because the routers ARP table gets flushed after a few minutes and then the port forwarding has no place to go. I have been working on this on and off for months with no progress yet. Evidentally some routers can accept a static ARP entry. I cont figure out why my lights go off on my lan card at home and all the PCs at work stay on when powered off. I think that is my main issue.

I followed the steps in this topic. But I can only wake my PC when it is in sleep mode, not when it is turned off. Turning the PC on from shutdown is the one I am looking for. I made a forwarding rule in my Ubee modem/router but this doesn't solve my issue.

On windows 8 defaults driver the options are different and it doesn't work. Install the win7 drivere http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/lan/marvell/MarvellYukon_Ethernet_V111053_Windows7.zip in win 7 compatibilty mode.

I used the Ubuntu operating system, on Aser laptop and I did not like it. Perhaps the interface is convenient but that is only one positive moment in that software. I prefer Windows 10 more. Moreover, it's much easier to find drivers for it than for Ubuntu. One good source is http://bitdrivers.com/manufacturers/asus ASUS Drivers Download for Windows. You may just find whatever driver you need. Very convenient, for those people, who do not like to spend time for tuning the computer.